B&M posts positive Christmas results, shares rise

Shares rose three percent on Friday.

The discount retailer B&M (LON: BME) has revealed a strong set of results over the past three months, coming out as one of the Christmas retail winners.

The retail chain carried out a series of rapid expansions, opening 19 new stores in just one week in December. 

The store has attracted consumers with household brands like Kellogg’s and Walkers, which are sold at a cheaper price than other supermarkets.

“B&M continues to go from strength to strength. Despite the demanding comparatives from the very strong Christmas in 2016, our buying, supply chain and retail teams achieved another outstanding performance this year by doing what we do best, which is delivering great value for customers week-in, week-out,” said Simon Arora, the chief executive of the parent B&M European Value Retail.

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Sales surged by almost 13 percent in 2017 to £837.3 million. ETX Capital analyst Neil Wilson said the store’s performance was better than rivals Lidl and Aldi.

“What the updates from all three confirm, however, is that the market seems to be supportive of value-based retailers and all three continue to build market share,”

Despite B&M’s success, other retailers were seen to struggle over the festive period due to the December inflation, running at about 3.7 percent.

The chain’s owner B&M European Value Retail has been listed on the stock exchange since 2014. Shares are worth 409.8p after gaining three percent on Friday.

Global insights director at TCC Global, Bryan Roberts, said that pricing at the discount store was “superb”.

“You can now do a pretty decent branded shop there across food, drink, cleaning products and grocery health and beauty. You do still find packs of Kellogg’s with the writing in Arabic but more and more big suppliers are waking up to the opportunity and selling direct to them,” he added.